Ray Allen explains what happened in Boston

Ray Allen is finally talking about what went down with him and the Boston Celtics this offseason.

Hoopsvibe’s very quick call: Allen’s week is already off to a busy start.

Multiple sources reported recently that Allen cleared the air in regards to two different questions. First, why he really left the Boston Celtics and second, why all that beef with Rondo??

In response to why he left the Celtics, Allen is putting the onus on them. Various sources reported that Allen claims the team wasn’t treating him right (in regards to his contract) and all of his close family and friends thought the same; especially for a player of his caliber and reputation.

“When this contract situation came down, everybody in my circle — mom, family, brother, sister, friends from college, people who watched me since I was in high school and since I was in college — nobody wanted me to re-sign in that situation because they thought, ‘There [is] so much left in you, and this team isn’t taking care of you or treating you right,'” he said. “That’s the way I felt, and it was like, if you are going to come and not put out a good contract on the table then, hey, we got to think about going somewhere else.”

Allen also said, “It was a business decision, and the team put me in a the position where we had to move … don’t boo me. Boo the team, in a sense,” he continued.

While everything usually seems like finger pointing, one side versus the other, I find it hard to not believe the guy. Ray Allen has always been a class act, on and off the court, and let’s face it, the NBA is a business; so it isn’t surprising that Boston looked at Allen the same way. What’s puzzling to me is that Allen reportedly refused a two-year $12 million deal with Boston to take a one-year, $3 million deal with Miami. So what really gives? That leads me to the second question Allen answered recently pertaining to his alleged beef with Celtics point guard, Rajon Rondo.

As it turns out, Allen is saying that his issue with Rondo comes from an issue the organization had with their starting point guard. Allen reportedly told the Miami Herald that when he heard GM Danny Ainge and head coach Doc Rivers planned to trade both Allen and Rondo to Phoenix for Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barboza, Allen called Rondo to warn him about it.

“So, I called him and I told him, ‘hey they’re supposedly trading us to Phoenix because you and Danny and Doc don’t get along,'” Allen said. “So, for some reason, I guess he thought that I was … that I had something against him, or there were some issues. And I had no issues with him. I won with him,” he continued.

Allen went on to say that if Rondo “had issue with me, that’s on him.”

It seems, however, that the main reason Allen left Beantown to take his talents to South Beach (other than the weather, lifestyle and opportunity to win a ring with Lebron and company) was that Boston just wasn’t going to use him like they had in the past. It’s looking like the organization didn’t have confidence in the aging Allen and weren’t going to play to his strengths.

Allen also reportedly had this to say to the Miami Herald:

“In Boston, they were telling me they were going to bring me off the bench — ‘We’re going to play you less minutes’ — and all I asked was, ‘How are you going to use me because the last two years you’ve been using me as decoys,'” Allen said. “‘You’re running all these plays for me just to pass it to somewhere else and you’re not putting me into any scoring opportunities and I’m just standing over in the corner the majority of games.'”

So now it makes sense. Clearly, Allen would’ve made more money and probably stayed with the Celtics but he wasn’t going to be used like he thought he should be. But honestly, that makes me like Ray Allen even more. He loves playing the game, he values his ability to contribute, and would rather take less money and play than take more money and sit the bench or be some decoy player on the perimeter. Good for him.

Well, we’re all going to see who made the better deal soon, as Miami and Ray Allen are set to open their season in Miami, against Boston, on October 30th.

So what do you think, Hoopsvibers? Who made the better deal? Boston or Miami? Leave us your comments below!